CHAPTER XV 



INSECTS BENEFICIAL AND BEAUTIFUL 



^Ichneumon Flies. The insect photographed in Fig. 101 

 is drilling into hard maple wood for the purpose of laying 



an egg in the burrow 

 of a wood-boring larva 

 How long she had been 

 there before I found 

 her it is impossible to 

 state, but for more 

 than two hours she 

 worked, inserting and 

 partially withdrawing 

 her drill repeatedly, 

 until it had penetrated 

 nearly two inches into 

 the hard wood. At 

 last she withdrew the 

 drill, apparently satis- 

 fied, and flew away, 

 to save more maple 

 trees from borers, I 

 hope, for, after seeing 

 her good works I had 

 not the heart to put her in the cyanide bottle. It was 

 wonderful to see another, that came to the same tree while 



246 



FIG. 101. ICHNEUMON FLY BORING 



INTO A TREE 

 (About | natural size) 



